For the Sake of Love
by Zephyr-Wind13
Summary: A Dragon with a blood soaked past... A Cat with a sheltered life... What good could come of the two mixing together? Or will they both be destroyed by what's to come?
1. Chapter 1

A Young Dreamkeeper, barely an adult, dashes through the dark alleyways of Anduruna… Behind him, a smaller splotch of shadow follows closely behind… The Dreamkeeper is momentarily caught in a ray of moonlight: He's a blue Dragon, wings tucked tightly into his body, a long, agile tail flowing gracefully behind him. The second figure, a winged Dark Ryuu-Neko, eyes glowing a menacing red.

The Dreamkeeper stops in behind a beautiful, two-story house. "Alright, Alerio… C'mon…" He shrugs a shoulder and the animal zips up his body and perches on his left.

"Mreh…" Alerio ruffles his wings before settling down. "Rrr…"

The Dragon ignores him as an extremely faint halo, barely noticeable as a glowing mist, appears above his head. "Go time…"

He touches the shadowy wall and begins to quietly scale it; the places his hands touch, the shadow sticking to his hands like adhesive. As he climbs, he flicks the end of his tail. "Where is her room?" As a result of his carelessness, he hits his head on a balcony just above his head.

Backing down, he rubs his horns and forehead. "Oww…" He frowns and touches the balcony. His halo glows stronger; as if it were a glow stick ring. He then starts to ooze into the balcony above him as he continues to climb. Moments later, he phases up and out of the floor of the balcony.

Shaking his head, he closes his eyes. "Ugh… Too much power use…"

Alerio paws at the Dragon's left temple, pushing at a Yang birthmark. "Mrowr…"

The Dragon smiles as he slowly opens his eyes. "Don't worry. It'll take more than that to make me lose it…"

He stands quietly and walks to the door. Opening it slowly, he slides in and quickly ducks into the darkness behind a dresser. Looking out, he sees two beds next to each other. In one bed, a wolf-like Dreamkeeper sleeps soundly. In the other, a cat with small angel wings.

"Hmm…" He looks at his Ryuu-Neko. "What do you think, Al…?"

The small animal says nothing and zips back out the door.

The Dragon sighs. "Gee, buddy… Thanks." He slowly makes his way over to the cat. Suddenly, he steps on a loose plank and it squeaks loudly.

He freezes. Looking at the two beds, he watches with bated breath. The wolf turns over and mumbles something about Kojikian boy bands. The cat, however, sighs and continues to sleep soundly.

The Dragon lets out a sigh of relief. "Good…" He continues over to the cat and stands over her sleeping form. He quickly pulls out a handkerchief and stuffs her mouth with it.

She wakes with a start and almost starts to scream before he stuffs the handkerchief in her mouth. The Dragon, lighting his halo up, now the likes of a neon bulb, quickly tears shadow-matter off the wall behind him and binds her arms and legs. He then takes one last piece of matter and covers her eyes.

"MURFFMMMPHH!" She struggles against her binds, but to no avail. "MMPPH!"

"Quiet," He hisses, "You're gonna wake your sister…"

His halo keeps glowing a dark, midnight blue as he quickly runs off to the balcony. He spreads his wings and flies off for the Talocan district. As he flies, his strength starts to fade. Blood starts to trickle from his nose.

"Urk… Damn shadow-matter…" He releases his halo and the binds on the cat fade.

She spits out the handkerchief and takes a deep breath. "KIIIIAAAAARRRAAAAANNNNNN!"

The sudden scream startles the Dragon and he seizes up. Both of them start plummeting toward the ocean's surface.

"HOLY SERAPIS, WOMAN!" Kiaran struggles desperately to find his balance as he tumbles through the air. "CAN'T YOU LET ME FLY IN PEACE!?"

The cat dreamkeeper manages to find her balance and uses her small wings to glide over to the Dragon and grabs him with both hands around the throat, shaking him as much as she can. "WHY!? THE!? HELL!? COULDN'T!? YOU!? JUST!? LET!? ME!? SLEEP!?"

"GACK! R-RAN!" He grabs her wrists and spreads his wings. He gets her on his back and struggles to keep his wings open. He grimaces as his altitude starts to even out. But that doesn't stop him from hitting the water.

"OOF! OWW! AGH!" Kiaran skips and tumbles along the water's surface as Ran jumps off and glides down toward the shoreline.

She lands and crosses her arms, an angry look on her face as she taps her paw. "Hmph… Serves you right." She turns her nose up and closes her eyes angrily.

Kiaran washes ashore and coughs up some water. A pile of seaweed tangled up in his horns. "I hate you… So much right now…" He stands and tears the seaweed away. "Let's go…"

Ran, still turning her nose up, follows behind him. "You are as stubborn as your Ryuu-Neko."

Kiaran turns around and grabs Ran's face, turning her to look him straight in the eye. "Shut. Up. Now. You're lucky that I don't kill you. Then again, if I did, I'd have to pay the apartment by myself."

She slaps him hard across the face and continues forward. "C'mon. Let's go home. You're in so much trouble when we get there."

He rubs his cheek as Alerio lands in between his horns. "Mrowr..."

Ki sighs. "Yeah yeah... I'll feed you after we get back to the apartment..." He follows Ran off the beach and into Talocan as the sun begins to rise over the ocean.


	2. Chapter 2

"Oww!" Ki holds his arms above his head to shield himself. "Stop!"

Alerio flicks his tongue as he watches Ki get beat by Ran's rolling pin. "Mrowl..." He zips up onto the kitchen island and tilts his head. "Murr!"

Ran turns to the animal, her eyes glowing with anger. "YOU WANNA BE NEXT!?"

He flicks his tongue once again and falls silent.

She turns, once again, to the Dragon, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. "Okay. Tell me again... WHY!? You 'kidnapped' me from my home when my whole family was there!?"

The Dragon stands suddenly. "BECAUSE I WANTED TO SEE YOU!" He turns and walks out of the kitchen and into the living room. He sits at the piano and starts to play a mournful tune. "I just wanted to see my girl…"

Ran follows behind, tossing the rolling pin into the sink on the way. "Oh Kiaran… Honey… I was gonna get out today anyway."

He ignores her and continues to play.

"Ki…?" She strokes his shoulder. "Hey! Ki!" She draws back to slap the side of his head.

"Hold it!" He catches her hand and stands, coming a full foot above her. "Don't… Touch me. Don't talk to me. Just leave me the fuck alone!"

He pushes her back and she lands on the couch. Kiaran then walks around the couch, up the stairs and into his room; slamming the door behind him.

Ran stands and rushes upstairs, banging on his door. "Kiaran! Ki you idiot! Open the damn door!" She continues to bang for a few minutes before crumpling to the floor, staring straight at the door. "Open the door… I'm sorry…"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, in Theophanies, another young Dreamkeeper stalks through the majestic and religious temples and towers of the district. His scarf covers his mouth and trails down his back, flapping around his slowly undulating tail. As the sun glints off his orange scales, he hisses to himself gently. "Where is it…"

He walks through the alleys and stops in front of a familiarly majestic looking house. Looking at his data scroll momentarily; he stops. "This is it…"

As if on cue, the door opens and a deep voice emanates from within. "Come… We have much to discuss, Demon…"

The lizard-like Dreamkeeper stalks inside and the door closes behind him. He looks around as his eyes adjust and the house begins to reveal itself. The walls, a clean beige, complement the flo-wood floor. On the walls, a few decorative paintings, family pictures, and mirrors occasionally take their place. Further inside, he sees a modest living room with an astounding window wall with a gorgeous view of the Sabbaton Towers.

"Hmm…" The Dreamkeeper's eyes avert and look towards his host. "What brings me back here, Mr. Vorey…?"

The older Dreamkeeper steps out of the shadows. His golden brown fur glinting in the morning sunlight pouring in from the window. "I believe you should sit down, Mr. Drimminor… We have quite a bit to discuss…" He walks into the living room and sits on a recliner, opening a nearby locker and pulling out a chilled bottle of fermentae.

The lizard follows him in, a hand lying on a concealed pistol in his belt. "Hmm…"

Mr. Vorey pulls out a glass filled with ice without looking at him. "Do try to relax, Demon… You are in no danger." He pours a bit of his drink into the glass.

The younger Dreamkeeper sits down. "Tell me what this is about, sir… My price is quite high…"

Mr. Vorey sips his drink and sets it down. He pushes an orange envelope toward the assassin and sits back. "This is about my daughter, Isura."

Isura says nothing as he opens the envelope.

"And I believe you know her captor…" Vorey leans forward, his eyes simmering with hatred. "The outcast bandit: Kiaran!"

Isura pulls out some of the contents and sifts through for an image of Ki. "Yes… I know of him…"

Vorey clenches his glass, cracks spider webbing across its surface. "Name your price."

Isura tears up the grainy image of the blue Dreamkeeper into tiny pieces as his halo flares. The pieces of the image congeal themselves into a small version of Kiaran, stumbling over the small table between them. "We shall see… But I know one thing…" He grabs the small figure and tears its head off, tiny screams emanating from its small mouth moments before. "I want to watch the life leave his eyes and sacrifice his soul to Theos…"

Vorey smirks, his teeth glinting evilly. "Good… Be sure to make him suffer…" He looks at a nearby picture. Picking it up, he looks at it intently. In the picture is Vorey himself, laughing. In his arms is a cat, his child by the look of her. "And bring me back my daughter… Bring me my Ran back…"


	3. Chapter 3

Ki's fists cut through the empty air. Sweat drips off his snout as he pulls back and repeats the cycle. Left hook, right hook, uppercut; over and over again.

Glancing at a data scroll on a stand nearby, he sighs and grabs a towel. "Two hours… Wait… TWO HOURS!?"

He quickly runs to the door and throws it open. "Ran!" He dashes down the stairs and finds the feline lounging on the couch, watching cartoons. "Ran! Get up!"

She looks up at him and speaks in a monotonous voice. "What?"

He grabs her and picks her up, landing her on her feet. "Training. Now show me what we practiced."

Ran looks at her feet, then clenches her fists. "No."

Surprised, Ki furrows his eye ridges. "What was that?"

Ran stomps her foot. "NO! En! Oh! NO!"

Ki throws his hands in the air, wings snapped open and shut once in frustration. "Okay, listen here, missy!" He picks Ran up and forces her to the wall.

"Hey! What's the big—"

"Shut up!" Ki growls furiously. "YOU'RE the one who asked me to train you! YOU'RE the one who wanted to learn! YOU'RE the one who was willing to take the risks!"

"But!"

"NO! FUCKING! BUTS!" Ki lets her go and he backs off, closing his eyes in an attempt to calm down. "Look… I just want to get this training over with… The sooner you can use your power the better…"

Ran slowly walks up to the Dragon and sets a hand on his chest. "Ki…"

He slowly opens his eyes. "Just… Show me what you've learned…"

Backing off slowly, the cat holds out her hand and closes her eyes. Over her head, the faint wisps of a halo form.

"Focus." He walks slowly around her in a circle. "Do not let yourself doubt your abilities."

Slowly, sparks start to jump from her palms to her fingers.

"Good…" Ki stops in front of her and studies her power use. "Now attack me."

"WHAT!?" Immediately, the electricity cuts out and she fluffs her tail in frustration. "WHY!?"

The Dragon smirks and closes his eyes. "That was a test. You fail."

"What do you mean I fail!?" Ran punches Ki in the stomach and he doubles over. "I was doing fine!"

He coughs and looks her straight in the eye. "You… You are supposed to be stable in your powers use…" He wheezes a bit and kneels to the ground. "A surprise could ruin your focus… And at the stage you're at, lost focus is lost blood."

At that exact moment, Alerio chases a yellow ball of fur down the stairs. "Rawr!"

Ran catches the yellow animal and cradles it away from Alerio. "Ki! Tell your idiot ryuu neko to go away!"

The little, yellow furball pokes its head out of Ran's protective arms and hisses at Al.

"Xi!" Ran bops the little ryuu neko gently on the snout. "No."

Ki snaps his fingers and pushes Alerio away. The ryuu neko releuctantly slinks into the kitchen. "Rrr…"

"The food is sitting under the table like always, you idiot!" Ki stands and walks Ran back to the couch. Sitting her down, he ruffles her hair. "Look… Ran. You did very well."

Without looking at him, she smiles. "Thanks… Want some food?"

Ki's stomach grumbles at the mention of the life-giving substance and he sighs. "Make me hash browns?"

Ran stands and lets Xi scamper back upstairs. "Sure." She walks into the kitchen as Ki flops onto the couch."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kiaran scarfs down forkful after forkful of his golden brown goodness as Ran watches him, sipping her cup of tea. Under the table, Alerio messily tears into a raw half steak that Ki just happened to throw into his food bowl.

"Kiaran…" Ran smiles and sets her tea down, taking a napkin and wiping his mouth. "You're making a mess, babe…"

Ki gobbles down several forkfuls and looks at her. "Tho? I can do what I want!"

Ran shakes her head and stands. Suddenly, her ears prick up and she looks upstairs. "Ki? Your data scroll's ringing"

He quickly stands and runs upstairs. "Thanks, baby!"

Ran perks her ears trying to pick up on the conversation.

"Operator." Ki's voice cuts quietly through the air.

"Kiaran. It's Canillo." Comes a voice through data scroll static.

"What's the deal?"

The voice coughs. "A job. Big pay. Big risk."

"Just how I like it. What are we dealing with?"

Canillo hesitates. "I feel like that hottie you're living with is listening in."

Ki scoffs and Ran giggles to herself. "Men… What's a girl to do…"

Canillo sighs. "Alright. I'll send you the specs in an encrypted file."

"_Damn!_" Ran thinks to herself. "_He'll never let me into that damn scroll of his…_"

Ki walks down the stairs moments later. "Mhmm… Yeah. Thanks a lot, bro." He hangs up and looks at Ran. Suddenly, he freezes up. "Ran… Don't. Move."

Ran stands, confused by the sudden order. "What? Ki what's going on?"

Suddenly, two golden swords cross in front of her neck and she gulps.

Behind her, a blue dragon, very much like Ki, stands. His gold halo glows strongly and he looks at Ki.

Kiaran pulls a pistol out from his belt and aims it at the other Dragon. "You! What do you want!?"

The intruder smiles. "I'm a shock trooper, Kiaran. You know exactly what I want. Peace for all Andurunans at any cost."

Ki tenses the trigger then puts the pistol back in his belt. At the same time, the intruder lets his weapons fade away.

"Kiaran! What're you doing!?" Ran struggles but the intruder grabs her and sits her back down into her chair. Removing his helmet, he sets it on the table and moves in front of Ran toward Ki, shaking his hand briskly. "It's good to see you too… Brother."


	4. Chapter 4

Kiaran faces off with his brother for a moment, thinking. "What brings you to my humble abode, Trooper…" He asks, hatred dripping from his voice.

Aaron chuckles to himself as he walks over to the fridge. Opening it, he pulls out a bottle of water and drinks some. "Ahh… How refreshing!" He exclaims mockingly. "Surely you have more?"

Kiaran grits his teeth and helps Ran to her feet. The cat, still surprised by the sudden turn of events, hisses at her scaly lover. "Kiaran! What the hell is your brother doing in my apartment!?"

"iOur…/i And I have not the slightest idea." Kiaran replies.

Aaron picks at the top of his bottle without looking at the pair. "If my presence is not desired, I will be more than happy to have Kiaran arrested for threatening a city official…"

Both Ran and Ki look up quickly. "No! No no! Not necessary!"

Aaron smirks and drinks the rest of his water. "Good! Now then…" He sits at the table and takes a data scroll from within his bag. "I'm here to deter my… Brother… From pursuing his upcoming job."

Kiaran slams his fist on the table and brings his face close to his brother's. "And… iWhat?/i Is going to stop me?"

Aaron taps on his data scroll and puts it away quietly.

Our young dreamkeeper, provoked by the sudden reluctance to talk, grabs Aaron by the collar of his armor. "Aaron!"

Aaron brushes a bit of dust off his shoulder and bares his teeth. "Me!"

In an instant, the Shock Trooper tosses a hard uppercut into Kiaran's jaw and sends his twin backwards into the living room. Ran quickly pulls a two war fans from her chiten's belt and takes an offensive stance.

"You bastard! You're gonna scratch the countertop! I paid good money for that!" She moves forward and attempts to slice at Aaron using her fan blades.

Aaron parries the attack using a blast shield that is attached to his right arm. "Haha! En guard, milady!" He dances backward as his halo glows. Suddenly, the light dims in the room as sunlight rushes to Aaron's outstretched hand. Within seconds, a fully formed golden scimitar lies in his hand. "Let's dance, madam!" He shouts as he rushes the cat.

Ran turns her body to the right and glances the blow off of the edge of her folded fan. The momentum carries Aaron's sword straight into the refrigerator as if it were a piece of paper. "You… You fuckin' stabbed my fridge!"

"Hehehe—OOF!" Aaron suddenly flies sideways as Ran angrily curb stomps him into the cupboards nearby.

Kiaran rushes in and draws his pistol. "Freeze!"

Aaron looks at him and grins. "Gladly!" He holds up his sword and in a fraction of a second, Ki and Ran are blinded as the Trooper allows his weapon to dissipate into pure light.

"Agh!" Ki shields his eyes as Ran covers hers with her fans.

Seconds later, Ran drops and sheathes her fans and looks around quickly. "Damn! He's gone…"

"Agh! I CAN'T FUCKIN' SEE!" Kiaran walks around blindly and trips over a chair, falling to the floor in a heap. "Oww… Pain…"

Ran shakes her head and examines where Aaron was just moments before. In his place sat a note. "Hmm?" Picking it up, she skims through it quickly and takes a short inhale.

Ki, picking himself up and rubbing his eyes, looks around. "What'd I miss?"

Ran, with nowhere else to store the note, quickly stuffs it in her bra and turns. "Nothing! Err… Nothing…"

Ki studies her and narrows his eyes. "Did your boobs get bigger?"

The cat blushes a bright red and instinctively kicks Kiaran in the crotch. "KIARAN!"

The dragon falls to his knees, cross eyed and squeaking. "Why…? Why Serapis why…?" He falls to the ground clutching his pants as Ran turns her nose up and walks into the living room.

"Pervert…" She closes her eyes and disappears.

Isura slowly stalks through Theophanies. "iOne-Hundred Thousand… One-Hundred Thousand Lucre just to find my ex girlfriend…/i" He walks towards a watercar stop and looks for the boat. "Hmm… Not here…"

He sits down on a nearby bench and waits. Suddenly, a ragged old dreamkeeper walks over and sits down on the opposite end of the bench. "Ya'll look like ya' got somethin' gigantic on your mind, kiddo…" He chuckles.

Isura glares at the man but the stranger is unwavering.

"Ya'know, it ain't healthy for a young'un like ya' ter be thinkin' too much. Gets the ol' thinkin' machine fried like a beached bander on a hot summer day." The old man smiles gently.

"What do you want, old man…" Isura says as he clenches his fist. "I have no reason to talk to you."

The old man chuckles again and pats Isura on the back. "Jus' some advice from one DreamKeeper to anotha': Don' try 'n wrap yer head aroun' what's too big fer it." The old man hands Isura a small datapad before walking away whistling.

Isura looks at the small device and flips through the pages. But the only details the device has are on a dreamkeeper residing in the Sabbaton Towers. "Hmm… Councilman Donpar's fiancé?"

The assassin stands and walks slowly onto the watercar that happened to pull into the stop just a few seconds ago. "Why would I have to see Marzena Caramia?"

The driver looks back at Isura and frowns. "Hey! I need payment or you don't go anywhere."

Isura glances at the driver and flashes a pistol. "Just get me there and I will pay you."

The driver hastily faces front and tries to go for his data scroll to report the assassin, but Isura is quickly behind him with the gun to his back. "Call the cops… And you will die. Now just drive, and you will get your money."

"O-Okay…" The driver shakily starts the watercar and the boat starts to sail off down the canal.

"That's better…" Isura grimaces and sits down. "I'll be sure to tip well…"


	5. Chapter 5

Kiaran quietly pulls a hard case out from under his bed, the moonlight shining through his window onto the floor. He then moves to his closet and opens the door. Instead of clothes, the whole of the walk in closet is wall to wall gun parts, cartridges, and various other weapons. Ki slumps his shoulders and sighs. "Ugh… Work…" He pulls his data scroll out and reviews his mission specs. "Hrmm… It's just like Illo to give me all the assassin work… Let's see…"

As he reviews the scroll, his tail independently pokes at some random gun parts. "Ah… Fuck." Ki's tail goes limp as he reads one last detail: _NO GUNS. END OF STORY; GOODBYE; THE END._

Sheathing his scroll, he hangs his head and sighs. _"Looks like I'm gonna have to go into the melee locker…"_ He walks into the far corner of the room as his halo forms above his head. In his hand, a key shaped shadow materializes. _"Hmm… No…" _The key morphs a bit, this time more archaic. _"No…" _The key morphs into a straight rod about two inches long. Finally, four spikes grow out of the tip. Similar in appearance to his tail. "Ah ha! Bingo!" Ki unlocks the locker and opens it, pulling out each drawer one by one.

As he does so, Ran quietly stands at the entrance to the closet and crosses her arms. Her tail swishes slowly and she taps her paw. "And… WHAT? Do you think you're doing?"

Ki doesn't look at her, poking through various collapsible bows and throwing knives. "Getting ready for work."

Ran flips a fan out and holds the blade to the dragon's neck. "And why do you think you're gonna go?"

Ki stops and looks at her, pulling her hand away and folding her fan back up. "Because we need the money…" He stands and ruffles her hair. "Look Rannie…"

She holds a hand to his mouth and stops him. "Look. I'm going."

"No you—" He starts.

Ran cuts him off. "Look. You know I'm ready. You just want to completely shield me from the world!"

"Don't say it!" Ki growls, his wings opening slightly.

"JUST LIKE MY FATHER!" She shouts angrily.

Ki growls and bares his teeth. He then turns around and pulls a sheathed sword and shoves it into Ran's arms. "We leave in three minutes… Wait downstairs."

Ran opens her mouth to say something but Ki brushes her off, turning around to browse through his locker a bit more.

Moments later, Ki walks downstairs with a crossbow and two katana strapped to his back. His pants, normally traditional canvas with a cloth belt, has completely changed into slightly less baggy black jeans and a dark brown buckle belt strapped with crossbow bolts. "Ran!"

The cat stands up from her seat at the dinner table. "Here…"

Ki opens the door and steps outside. Crouching slightly, he looks back. "Well?"

Ran hesitates and stops outside the door, closing it behind her. "Umm… Y-Yeah…" She clambers onto Ki's back.

Ki stretches his wings a bit and starts running down the street. "Hold on tight…" He kicks off the ground and pumps his wings down.

Ran closes her eyes and hugs tighter on Ki's neck. "Mrowr…"

"Ack!" Ki coughs and tugs at her arms. "R-Ran!"

Ran loosens her grip and sighs. "S-Sorry…"

Ki lets out a breath and sets his jaw. "Alright… We're headed for the Sky Road… Trooper Outpost 2794..."

Ran pulls herself up closer to his head. "Why? What's there?

Kiaran vectors himself towards the Ruskolian portion of the Sky Road. "Nothing…"

Ran tugs at the dragon's neck. "Ki… Just tell me."

He hesitates and closes his eyes. "2794 is a Maximum Security DreamKeeper Prison… It's nickname is the Berg… It's named for its infamously low temperatures…" He looks up and starts to grimace. "The Berg… Is where I learned to use my powers…"

A secretary hurriedly rushes through the halls of the Sabbaton Towers on a desperate search. She turns into an office and huffs.

A red-furred dreamkeeper looks up, his eyes intense under his thin-rimmed reading glasses. "What is it Jeannie?"

The cream-colored bird bows and composes herself. "Umm Umm… Your fiancé has a visitor."

The councilman stands and takes his glasses off. "Hmm… Very well… Send him in."

"No need." Comes a voice.

Jeannie squeaks and runs out of the room, a few feathers lost in her stress.

The councilman looks up and sees Isura slithering out of the airduct. "And you might be…" He studies the lizard and frowns. "Ah… The infamous Isura… Otherwise known as the Puppeteer Demon…"

Isura lands quietly on the floor and stares at the councilman, his eyes narrowing. "Yes… You've heard of me councilman Donpar?"

The councilman smirks and closes his eyes. "Yes… I considered hiring you… But I succeeded in my endeavor in other ways."

As the two converse, a pencil gray dreamkeeper walks into the office. "Hold it, Sharlen… I have business with him." She motions for Isura and waves nonchalantly at her fiancé.

Isura nods at Sharlen. "Donpar…"

The councilman sits back down. "Drimminor…"

Marzena leads the assassin into her living quarters and sits him at a couch. She walks in front of him and stares him down. "Listen to me, demon… I hear you have a job…"

Isura says nothing, staring back at the girl.

Marzena smirks and tosses a few pictures of Kiaran onto the coffee table in between them. "I know your target better than you do. And I know where he's headed…"

Isura glances at the pictures, then looks back at Marzena. "Very well… Talk."

"Ah ah ah!" Marzena steps on the table with one leg. "You've got some paying to do…"

The assassin scowls behind his scarf and closes his eyes. "This better be worth it…"

Marzena smiles, her teeth bared. "Oh yes it will be… For the both of us…"

She turns and clenches her fist. _"Soon… Kiaran… You'll pay for what you did to me… You'll pay for it with your life… Or your heart…"_


	6. Chapter 6

Ran's fur stands on end as Ki explains the purpose of Outpost 2794. "You… You stayed there…?"

Ki doesn't answer as he drops through the condensing fog that constantly surrounds the Berg.

The cat shakes Ki's shoulder. "Kiaran!"

"Shh!" Ki lands quickly behind an outcrop just outside the Sky Road. "You'll blow our damn cover!" he hissed.

Ran droops her tail. "Sorry…"

"Get down." Ki peeks over the rock and ducks back as a spotlight drifts over the pair. "We have to get to the wall. If we can get there, I can phase us in. But I can only phase you. I'll have to find a different way." He looks back over the rock. "Understood?"

Ran nods quickly. "Yeah."

Ki bites his lip. "You better not die… Go!"

Ki and Ran quickly dash towards the wall, as usual, Ran pulls ahead slightly after a short distance. "We're almost there."

Ran hits the wall and backs into it as Kiaran lopes his way around a few spotlights. "Hurmm… Surgery never did make me feel any better…" He says as he stretches his back.

Ran puffs a strand of hair out of her face. "Just phase me in already!"

Kiaran shakes his head and places both his hands on the wall. As he does, his halo lights up. "Hurgh…" Ki slowly pulls the shadow apart as if it were a wall of gel. Slowly, the hole gets wider. "Ergh… Ran… Go!" He hisses as his nose starts to trickle blood.

Ran quickly slides inside and lightly touches the dragon's chest before his lets the portal fade.

Kiaran backs up a bit, then dives toward the wall as a spotlight drifts past. "Whoa… Gotta be a tad more careful..." He wipes his nose and grimaces at the sight of his own blood. "Stupid shadowkinesis…" He shakes his head and dashes off along the wall.

Ran turns after the portal closes and finds herself face to face with a white bear with a fire-like fur pattern. "Holy!"

The bear quickly covers her mouth with a large paw and backs into a corner. "Hold eet." The bear looks back and inspects the hallway before turning back to the cat. "Dat vas shadowkinesis… Only von dreamkeeper I know has dat accursed power…"

Ran pulls her head away and reaches for her sword quickly. "Leave me alone!" She growls.

The bear chuckles, amused by her threat. "Hehehe… Child don' try to draw dat sword on me… You vill regret eet…"

Ran ignores him and tries to swing the blade at him. In a split second, she's covered in a red-orange glow as the bear's halo emanates over his head. She looks up and sees that he caught the sword in his hand, the blade starting to glow red. "Mew!?"

The bear laughs. "Ah ha ha! Comrade Kiaran picked a feisty villed partner!" He pulls the sword out of Ran's hands and lets his halo fade. As a result, the blade cools back down. "Hmm? Eet seems dat your partner has planned our leetle meeting…"

"What do you mean?" Ran asks, regaining her composure, shivering slightly after realizing how frigid it is.

"Take a peek, child." He shows her the sword. On the blade, a little carving of a "J" in a flame shimmers in the dim lit cell.

At that moment, Ran stomps her foot and angrily kicks the wall, a crack spidering up the bricks. "OOooh! That scaly, lowlife scoundrel!"

The inmate chuckles as his halo glows. He starts to mold the sword in his hands as Ran takes out her frustration on the wall. "My name ees Jacov. You are…?"

"Ran… Ran Vorey…" She pulls out a fan and starts pick-axing the wall. "Now then, can I leave so I can help Kiaran?"

Jacov hefts a warhammer. "Yeah, sure."

Ran looks at the hammer, then around for the sword, then at Jacov. "Where!? What!? Huh!?"

Jacov smiles. "You obviously need to learn power, girly." He swings the hammer hard and the carbonide bars holding them in shatter to pieces. Immediately, sirens blare as Jacov walks into the corridor, smirking. "Stupid troopers… Thinking that carbonide can hold Jacov!" He walks down the hall swinging the hammer happily, opening the bars of other inmates.

Ran quickly runs after him through the crowd of freed bandits. "Get back here you big oaf!"


	7. Chapter 7

Ki slowly stalks around the perimeter and looks up the wall, sighing. "They really remodeled this place since I was here…" He touches the wall and smirks. "Bingo…"

Kiaran pulls out his bow and backs up, loading an armor piercing bolt into the channel. "Onwards for the king…" The dragon points the bow at the wall and furrows his eye ridges. "And for the people's will…" He attaches a small explosive to the tip. "Deny the king his order…" He shoulders the crossbow. "And of his blood, you will have your fill…" Firing the bolt, he rolls backwards using his spread wings for cover. The bolt buries itself halfway into the wall and it detonates.

Sirens blare as spotlights immediately all come on. "Heh… Cake…" Walking inside, he shoulders his crossbow in favor of his twin shortswords. "Now then… Off to the office…" He quickly sprints down the now destroyed corridor, tucking his wings tightly into his body to help cut down on air resistance.

"Jacov!" Ran rushes to catch up with the large bear. "Jacov wait up!"

The bear turns and smiles warmly. "You are quite persistent, leetle one… Come! We have a comrade to assist!" He laughs and starts down the corridor again, laughing to himself.

The cat fluffs her tail in anger and frustration. "But why did Ki take me to you!? You're completely useless!"

Jacov stops and turns. "Vhat… Vhat the hell did you say, child!?" He takes a step towards her, the hammer head beginning to glow as his halo lights up. "I dare you to say such bulshah to my face!"

Ran stands her ground and looks rebelliously into Jacov's eyes. As a result, her halo glows faintly and sparks start to dance from her fingertips.

The bear smirks and backs down. "And that, comrade Vorey, is vhat comrade Kiaran sent you to me for."

Ran looks down and the sparks disappear. "What? My power?"

Jacov chuckles lightly and continues down the hallway again. "Come! You have much to learn… And hyper-concentrated Vermentae to fetch!"

"Hah… Hah…" Kiaran stands and flicks his wrist, blood flinging off his blade as he does so. "That… Should be the last of the forwards…"

He sighs and sheaths his swords. "Now then… Where is that damned office…?" Walking down the corridor again, he absent-mindedly takes his focus off the corridor. Suddenly, a click and whirring of machinery causes him to look up.

In front of him, the walls and ceiling unfold to unveil several springer security turrets; all pointing straight at the exposed dragon.

"Aww… Fuck." Kiaran quickly backtracks as the guns open fire, round after round narrowly missing the young dreamkeeper as he attempts to make it out of their range.

"Why the hell does shit like that only happen in lit hallways!?" Ki quickly ducks into a recessed doorway and the sound of springer fire stops. Peeking around the corner, he momentarily catches a glimpse of the security guns before they train their sights on him and fire off several bursts.

"Damn!" The dragon backs into his makeshift cover and thinks. "What's gonna be the best way of getting past…"

"_There aren't any shadows…_" He thinks. "_And if I were to force myself, I could seriously injure something important…_" He lays his hand on his crossbow. "_But if I were somehow able to get a shot in, I'd get torn up by the other two turrets… Hmm…_"

Kiaran touches the wall. "Wait… That's it!" Peeking around the corner again, he selects his target: the ceiling turret. "Alright… Here goes nothing…" Loading an explosive bolt into his crossbow, he spreads his wings to further darken the wall. Next, he easily opens a small portal in the wall and aims his crossbow into it. "Bon appetite! I hope you like lunarous!" Kiaran quickly shoots one. Two. Three crossbow bolts into the shadowy abyss.

The first bolt suddenly jumps from the wall and narrowly misses the ceiling gun. The second glances off the ceiling turret and impales the turret on Ki's far left, detonating it into a heap of twisted plastic and metal. The third buries itself in the ceiling right next to the turret and detonates, bringing down his intended target and burying the far right gun.

"Success!" Kiaran jumps from his hiding place and tears the gun from the buried turret. "And I have a new gun! Woo!" He dashes off down the hallway, laughing evily.

Jacov tosses his shoulder into a doorway and splinters the wood. "Shock trooper feel Jacov's!" He looks around and sees the empty room. "Eh…?"

Ran squeezes past him, patting his back. "Don't worry, big guy, you'll find some necks to snap later…"

Jacov sighs and lines the shattered door up into the doorframe as best he can. "Ahright, child… Ve can begin training your power…"

Ran quickly turns, a surprised look on her face. "W-What?!"

Jacov tears the metal railing off the chalkboard at the front of the room and starts to forge it in his hands. "Okey, okey… This…" He holds up a crumpled metal ball, sharp edges glinting in the light. "Is your ability to use power…" He turns around and re-forges the slag, turning back around and presenting a metal statue of Ran with lighting bolts arcing above her head. "And this! Is vhat you vill be becoming!"

Ran frowns. "A statue?" She asks mockingly.

Jacov laughs heartily. "Ahahah! Comrade Kiaran chose vell! Very vell indeed!" He roughly cuffs Ran on the back approvingly and she almost crumples to the ground. "But no. You vill be shaped into new Ran!"

She looks up at him, rubbing her shoulder. "And…?"

Jacov drops his smile in favor of a darker look. "You can defeat assassin after comrade Kiaran… And ve have notime. Assassin is here… And you are running out of time…"


	8. Chapter 8

Kiaran peers into a dark room. "Ah! The engineering office… Perfect…" Kiaran tries the door. "Hmph… Obviously locked…" He backs off and kicks the door. The frame creaks but remains intact. "Alright… You asked for it…"

The dragon draws his crossbow and loads his last explosive dart. He then fires it at the door and smirks as it results in a satisfying small explosion. The defeated door squeaks quietly on its exhausted hinges as he walks inside. "Hehehe… This is perfect… I can just disable the lights and alarms!"

Suddenly, a security hatch closes on top of the now-useless door, trapping Kiaran inside. "What!?" He touches the metal, preparing to phase through when lights flood the room. "Damn!"

He turns around and squints, trying to refocus his eyes. Before he has time to react, he is suddenly knocked sideways into the wall. "Argh!"

Looking up, Kiaran sees his new opponent. "Wait… You…"

The cloaked figure scoffs. "Me."

Kiaran stands and draws his swords. "Drimminor. A pleasure as always…"

The cloak falls off the figure and Isura scowls at his rival. "The same to you, my fellow demon…"

"Good… Now focus. Forget fear. Forget anger. Just revel in feeling of energy." Jacov, crosslegged on the ground, watches as electricity swirls through Ran's fur. "Do not be fearful of power. Power is only you."

Ran bares her teeth and tightens her shut eyes. "I-I… I am not afraid…"

Jacov frowns. "Then attack me, comrade."

For the second time, Ran loses focus and the electricity disappates to nothing. "W-What!?"

The bear shakes his head. "Ran is still afraid… You must attack!"

"But I could hurt you!" She argues. Clenching her fist, she looks at the bear. "I could seriously hurt you!"

He sighs. "You fear for Jacov? Ha! You prove Jacov correct!" He stands and brushes his pants with his hands. "I did not say the attack should be harmful…"

Ran stomps her paw and growls. "Enough with this bull crap! Kiaran's in danger and all you can do is make fun of me!?"

Jacov looks into Ran's eyes and she notices the urgency seeded within them. "I believe he can hold out just long enough to wait for you to succeed…" He pulls a small chain from underneath his shirt, a small, broken tail spike hanging from it. "After all… Comrade Kiaran has no fear…"

Kiaran flips back and springboards off the wall, leaping over a metallic manifestation Isura created. "I have no quarrel with you, Puppetmaster!"

Isura throws several knives at Kiaran, all narrowly missing. "I, however, have a quarrel with you, Reaper!"

Kiaran lands and Isura's puppet catches the dragon in a bear hug. "Gah!"

Isura snaps his fingers and the puppet turns around, presenting the blue dragon to him. "Crush him… Slowly…"

"Raaagghhhh!" Kiaran shouts painfully as the metal arms begin to shrink, sharp points burying themselves into his scales. "Not yet!" Kiaran whips his tail and manages to sweep Isura's feet out from under him. As a result of his broken focus, the puppet momentarily loosens its grip. Kiaran manages to slip through and lands on the other side of the room.

"Urgh… Clever clever, Reaper…" Isura stands and smirks.

Kiaran spits blood from his mouth and returns the smile. "I should return the compliment… But I really, really, REALLY don't think you deserve it…"

The orange dreamkeeper waves his hand and his puppet stands upright, contorting itself slowly. "Are you sure? I feel as if my sculpting skills should at least be sufficient for your meager desires…"

Kiaran's heart plummets as he stares at Isura's creation. Standing before him, as if to mock his very existence, is the newly adjusted form of the Puppetmaster's toy. Standing before him is Ran.

"Speechless?" He asks. "Good… It means I've found exactly what I need…" Isura's halo glows brighter as the Ran-Puppet jumps at Kiaran, swords contorting themselves from its hands.

"Shitshitshit!" Kiaran barely dodges in time, the swords tearing through his pants and cutting a shallow groove down his right leg. "You really are gonna go there, aren't you!?"

Smirking, his rival pulls back and his puppet responds by backtracking to him. "Well, it did distract you enough to land a blow…"

Ki scowls. "_He's right_" He thinks. "_I let myself get distracted far too easily there…_" He draws his crossbow and loads a special bolt in the channel. "_Hopefully this will buy me enough time…_"

Suddenly, Ran launches forward, swords at the ready. "Prepare yourself, Reaper! Your one weakness will finally kill you for good!" Isura shouts manically.

"NOT TODAY, BASTARD!" Kiaran jumps over the attack and fires the bolt at the ceiling. Suddenly, the room is engulfed in a strange pulse wave and the lights cut out.

"Raagghhh! Kiaran!" Isura whips around trying to find his adversary, his halo glowing just enough to see.

The room, however, is completely empty. Save for Isura and his manifestation. "He got away… HE FUCKING GOT AWAY!" Isura lets his halo fade away and the puppet falls apart into a scrap heap.

Outside the door, a midnight-blue splotch on the wall begins to grow. Seconds later, Kiaran; silhouetted in the same midnight-blue substance, melds out of the wall and falls to the floor. The shadow slides off of him and he coughs several times, blood dripping from his mouth. "Hah… Hah… Hah…" He stands and lays his hand on the wall to balance himself. "At least… At least I escaped… For now…"

With that, he staggers down the dark hallway, "I need… To find Jacov… And get the fuck out of this place…"


	9. Chapter 9

Several Troopers scramble to their feet as a large, white bear with a fiery fur patter bursts through the wall, a menacing war hammer in hand. "SQUAD DELTA OPEN FIRE!" Shouts one officer.

Jacov smirks as his halo glows. His war hammer quickly melts into slag, which Jacov quickly throws to the ground then heaves upward. The result is a large metallic pillar that all the springer rounds harmlessly bounce off. "Ookey… Nao comrade Ran fight."

The cat quickly dashes out from behind Jacov, eyes burning with anger and worry. From her hands, strong pulses of yellow and blue lightning leap excitedly. "WHERE'S THAT LOW-DOWN DRAGON!?" She rolls to the side as a rookie trooper fumbles with his rifle and looses several shots her direction. "YOU ASSHOLE! SHOOT AT A LADY, WILL YOU!?"

Grabbing him at the collar, she throws him into the wall, knocking it down into the next room.

"Oww… S-Sorry…" He whimpers before passing out.

The rest of the Troopers rush to their feet and train their guns on them, trembling. "B-Back! B-Back off!" They all shout.

Ran feigns an innocent expression, sparks crackling from her hands and feet. "Who?" She places a finger on her chin mockingly. "Me?" She bares her fangs.

Jacov shivers and quietly moves back into the room he busted in from. "Eh… Jacov never liked women when crazy…"

"Blech!" Kiaran leans against the wall and spits out some more blood. "Ugh… I hate… When I have to do this shit…" The dragon hefts his gun and sighs. "Okay… WHY!? Did I not use this against Isura…?"

Sitting down roughly, he tears a bit of his pant leg off and wipes his mouth. "I just… Need to get the fuck out of here… Again…"

Suddenly, a lone trooper runs out of a nearby hallway and notices Kiaran. "H-Hey!" the trooper moves for her gun but stops. Noticing Ki's injuries, she rebuckles her pistol and kneels next to the dragon. "Hey, are you alright?"

Ki looks up, blood dripping from his lips. "Get away from me, trooper. As you can see…" he struggles to his feet and almost falls over; catching himself by using his looted rifle as a cane. "I am— Urk! I'm… Fine…"

The girl trooper removes her helmet, revealing her golden fur and hair. "Sheesh… You remind me of my boyfriend…" She takes his arm over her shoulder and walks him down the hallway. "Don't worry… I'll take care of you…" The two then enter another hall which then seals with a security latch.

Ran opens the door and walks slowly out of the room. "Hmph… Men… Let's go, Jacov."

Jacov flinches, hearing the venom dripping from Ran's voice. "Ayayaye… Kiaran, vhy must you send crazy lady…?"

Ran stops and slowly turns. "What…? Did you say?" she asks as sparks start to crackle through her fur.

"Urk! No-Nothing, Ran!" He backs up slightly and holds his hands up in a surrender. "Shall ve go?"

The cat smirks and turns back around, stalking her way down the hall while twirling a fan. "I know you're ly-ying…" She whistles.

Once again, Jacov flinches. "Eh? S-Sorry… Comrade…" He follows behind. "_Ayayaye… Vemon…_" The bear sighs. "_Vonce I em free, I go beck to forge and make veapons like used to…_"

Suddenly, in front of Ran and Jacov, the trooper with Kiaran dash past. "K-K-K-KI!?" Ran clenches her fists and sparks dance angrily. "KIARAN!" She immediately dashes after the pair, Jacov following close behind.

Isura kicks down the security hatch and scowls. "Stupid dragon… I'll wring his cocky little neck." he hisses.

As the dreamkeeper assassin stalks his way down the hall, he freezes up. "Urk! What is this!?" he struggles to move, but his entire body doesn't respond.

"_You failed me, Puppetmaster…_" says a voice in Isura's head.

He growls. "No! I do not FAIL!" he struggles again but suddenly his arm rises and lays a hard punch into his cheek, smashing his head against the wall in the process. "Gah!" He falls to his knees and spits out blood. "Bitch…"

The voice chuckles evilly in his head. "_Go. Fulfill your mission, Puppet…_"

Isura regains control of his body and he stands shakily. "I… Am no puppet…" he says as he begins to walk away. "I am the master…"

"Hmph…" The trooper supporting Kiaran forces her way into the telepad room and quickly shuts the door. "You've really got the tail on you, sir. No pun intended." she indicates Kiaran's long tail.

"Heh… She's not…" Ki gasps. "A tail…"

The trooper places Ki on the last open pad and sets the coordinates. "Just a little more—"

Ran suddenly bursts through the door, hands glowing with violently sparking lightning balls. "GIVE! ME! THAT! DRAGON!"

The golden furred trooper's eyes widen. "Alright! We're gone!" She hits a button and jumps on the pad just as Ran fires a bolt of lightning at her.

The pad manages to jump away before the attack lands. Ran coughs as the smoke clears and when she notices that the pad's gone… Well…

On the nearby Sky Road, Aaron just so happens to be observing the Berg through a sniper scope. He was called to reinforce the troubled stronghold but was told to only observe and take out only key targets. "Hmm… Strangely qui—"

"DAMNIT!" Ran's voice suddenly pierces the silence and the lenses of Aaron's scope crack.

"Gah!" Aaron falls backwards and covers his horns. "What in the hell!?"

Meanwhile, in the Calypsan Police Outpost, the telepad suddenly appears on its stand and the girl trooper drags Kiaran off and onto a nearby bench. "Hey… You still alright?"

Ki opens his eyes suddenly and seizes up. In the direct light, he finally recognizes the girl. "Y-You're… You're!"

The trooper removes her helmet and smiles, eyes closed happily. "Who? Your brother's girlfriend?"

Ki almost responds but starts to cough up more blood.

"Okay. We're getting you meds and rest. Let's go." She says as she hefts the dragon again.

"Th-Thanks, Fern… Again…" he mumbles.

Fern smiles, "Don't worry, kiddo. It's just like old times…" With that, the both of them walk out of the police outpost and out into Calypsa.


	10. Chapter 10

"Ugh…" Aaron walks out of the Shock Trooper Central Command in his regular outfit: Canvas Pants and a Cloth Belt. "Stupid Kiaran… Breaking out all the damn Berg inmates…" The blue dragon stalks his way down the brightly lit streets of upper-class Anduruna. "_And_ my favorite scope got destroyed!"

Sighing, he catches the last telepad out to the outer ring of Calypsa. "At least… I can go home to a _peaceful_ apartment with a _peaceful_ girlfriend… Eat a _peaceful_ dinner and then make _chaotic_ love in bed…"

Zapping into the pad station, Aaron steps out into the dimmer streets of Anduruna and walks toward his apartment complex. "Hmm… I should probably pick up some stuff for dinner…" he mumbles as he walks by a convenience store.

He walks out carrying two bags and holding a fresh fish in his mouth. "Mmm… A midnight mack mith mome mate meckmast moms mor momomow!" Aaron walks his way down the street and turns into his complex. He manages to get into the doorway. "Fern-baby! I'm back!"

Aaron's call is met with silence as he sets the bags on the table and he chomps another chunk out of his fish. "Fern?" He walks into the dark living room and notices a lump on the couch. "Fern!" He jumps on the lump and snuggles into it.

Suddenly, the lights come on. "A-Aaron!?"

The dragon looks up and sees Fern standing at the entryway in an open robe and lingerie. "F-F-F-Fern!? THEN WHO'S!?"

He jumps off the couch and the lump moves and sits up. The blanket falls away and reveals Kiaran, rubbing his head. Several bandages on various parts of his body.

"Serapis… Why… Did you fucking try to rape me in my sleep, Aaron…?" Ki asks as he struggles to sit up.

"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU IN MY DAMNED HOUSE!?" Aaron shouts angrily.

"Because I saved his ass, Aaron. You know how much he means to you." Fern says as she rolls her eyes.

Kiaran shakes his head and lies back down. "Look, lovebirds… I'm suffering from internal bleeding, several cuts, a few missing scales, and finally: I'm feeling sick from looking at Fern's A-cup boobs in push up lingerie…" He pulls the blanket back over his head. "Just have your uber-conservative sex and go to fucking bed…"

Aaron clenches his fist. "Why you—"

Fern wraps her arms around Aaron, interrupting him. "Shh… Let's just go prove him wrong and have not-so-conservative sex, baby…" She slowly whispers.

Aaron's anger melts away as Fern leads him upstairs. "Hehehe… Alright, baby…"

Kiaran peeks out of the blanket and scowls. "Blech… Virgins…" He pulls the blanket back over his head and falls asleep.

"C-Comrade Ra—"

"NO!" Ran interrupts Jacov as they make their way through Jacov's home Bandit Encampment. "Where is that snake!?"

Jacov sighs and overtakes Ran's brisk walking pace. "I vill lead…" He mumbles. Snaking his way through the various tents and shacks, Jacov doesn't look back at Ran. According to the various passerby's nervous looks, he is wise to do so.

Ran's halo glows strongly as thunder constantly shapes and reshapes itself in her hands. Sparks also fly from them towards the ground and a short ways out towards her surroundings. As a result, most everyone gives her a wide berth.

"Ve are here, comrade…" Jacov says as he stands to the side of a larger tent. "Be varned. Canillo es very… Hard to talk vith… Ezpecially vith vemon…"

Ran walks past the bear and her halo fades. "I. Don't. Care. He'll find Kiaran so I can tear that dragon's balls off!" She hisses as she walks inside.

Jacov nervously backs away from the tent and starts to melt and mold his warhammer into a shield. "_I vill be needing of dis in about seven seconds…_" He thinks to himself.

A small shot glass hits the bar, the bottom cracking slightly. "Hit!"

A bartender quickly refills the glass with some fermentae and walks away. Isura downs the shot and scowls. "I do not fail…" he mumbles.

"_You failed over and over and over again, sexy boy…_" Isura grabs his head and scowls, his head piercing with pain.

"GAH!" The assassin stands and doubles over. "Get out of my head!" He stumbles around and knocks several stools over, much to the fear of some bar goers.

"_Get your ass in gear, pretty boy…_" Marzena's voice pierces his skull. "_Kiaran is still alive and you're not going to be if that doesn't change…_"

Isura shakes his head and staggers out of the bar into the dark streets. "You can't kill me, woman… You can't kill what you can't catch…"

Marzena chuckles and Isura falls to his knees, grasping his head as it practically splits with intense pain. "_I don't need to catch what I already have on a leash…_"

Isura's head stops pounding and he staggers back to his feet. "V-Very… Very well… You get your request…"

Marzena's voice begins to fade. "_Good… Do not disappoint me…_"

The assassin quickly gets to his feet. "Fucking bitch… Thinks she can outsmart me…" Readjusting his clothes, he quickly strides down the street and pulls out his datascroll. Dialing a number, he plugs in a headset as he turns down an alleyway. "Yes… I need to talk to him… No, I'm calling in a favor…"


	11. Chapter 11

Ran walks in on a sandy brown desert fox as he closes a call on his datascroll. "YOU!"

The fox looks up, his eyes lighting up as he sees the cat. "Ran! Darling! You've finally come to confess your lo—"

Ran quickly slaps the fox across the face. "Canillo! Find my idiot boyfriend before I tear your balls off and feed them to the Nightmares personally!"

"B-B-But!" Illo stammers nervously.

"But… What…?" Ran coos in a girly voice. "I'm just a _helpless_ little girl trying to find her big, strong man…"

Canillo coughs several times. "Umm… Umm… I've got my friend on the case right now… He'll bring Kiaran here as soon as he finds him…"

"And…" Ran bats her eyelashes at him. "Who is this… 'Friend' of yours, Canillo, baby…?"

The fox flicks his ears nervously, cringing at the venom practically gushing from every word. "He's… He's another assassin… By the name of… Drim—"

Ran flips the desk at the first syllable. This in turn sends Illo tumbling backward into the tent wall and out into the desert. Several bandit guards from the tent entrance run in to tend to the situation. Ran turns, her eyes glowing as brightly as her halo. "DO! NOT! INTERFERE!"

Jacov cringes behind his metal pillar as the tent lights up in a giant electric ball. "Ehm… Mehby… Metal shield not best devense…" As expected, the lighting jumps to the pillar, turning it (and our friend Jacov) into one hell of a DreamKeeper lightningrod.

Isura backs into the door to his apartment on the Kojiki-Theophanies border and uses his tail to flick the lights on. The lone lunarous bulb flickers to life to reveal a neatly arranged den with a kitchenette off to the back. The assassin hangs his coat and walks into the room adjacent to the den off to the left, taking his shirt off as he does so.

"Grr… Damn friend didn't have anything on that soul reaping bastard either…" He says as he sinks into a warm bath. "Instead, the ass sends me to find him… Fuck…"

Suddenly, the doorbell rings and Isura's eye ridge cocks up a bit. "Hmm? Meh… They'll go away soon enough…" He brushes off the door and relaxes again into his bath.

A second time, the bell rings, this time with an accompaniment of a hard rapping upon the door. "Open up, Drimminor! This is the police!"

"_Fuck…_" Isura thinks to himself as he stands and dries off. "_Fucking cops…_" Walking to the door, he opens it and sees Ki dressed up in shock trooper armor. He immediately jumps back and draws a gun.

"Hold it, Puppetmaster." Says the dragon. "I'm not Kiaran. I am his older twin brother: Aaron."

Isura lowers his gun slowly, still apprehensive. "I've heard of you, Trooper… 'The Gilded Hyperion…' The Storm Trooper unmatched in his destructive but tactical power…"

Aaron smirks as he walks inside Isura's home. "You hear correctly. Though the nickname is a new one to me…"

"What do you want of me, Hyperion?" Isura scowls. "You have no business with my kind…"

Aaron turns and pats Isura on the head condescendingly. His hand is quickly swatted away. "Ahh… Fiesty… However, I am not here to mock you, I'm here about Kiaran."

"What of my next target?" Isura asks, still apprehensive.

"I know where he is…" Aaron whispers.

Ran quickly makes her way through the bandit camp and into a telepad station. Behind her, the charred remains of the command tent and several convulsing dreamkeepers; Jacov and Canillo included, lie in waste. She holds a ball of tightly packed lighting in her hand. "Send this pad to Talocan Port 2713. Now."

The operater doesn't hesitate and quickly taps the coordinates into his datascroll. Almost immediately a nearby pad beeps and Ran jumps upon it. "Go."

In an instant the pad disappears and reappears in a dark basement. Lighting up a ball of electricity, she walks up the stairs and into her and Ki's apartment. "I was wrong to tell that bonehead that a pad in the basement was useless… No matter…"

Walking upstairs, she goes into her room. A few minutes later, she comes out wearing her favorite chiton and her two hyper-conductive warfans. "XI! ALERIO! COME!" She shouts angrily.

Both ryuu nekos quickly make their way to Ran. Xi from the kitchen downstairs, and Alerio from a small outcrop in the stairwell. Both take positions on each of Ran's shoulders and she sighs. "We gotta go find Kiaran, guys… He's gonna get his ass kicks so fucking hard…"

The two ryuus shiver at the anger in Ran's voice. But they stay silent as she walks out of the apartment. "If he's not working or at the bandit encampment… He's in Calypsa…" She mumbles. Getting her bearings, she quickly runs off for the nearest watercar station to the Calypsa District.


	12. Chapter 12

"Ugh… My head…" Kiaran sits up as the blanket falls to the floor. "What… What happened…?"

Looking around, he remembers the events that had occurred the night before and closes his eyes. "I just can't catch a fucking break, now can I…?"

"No. And you didn't catch one this time either."

Ki looks up and sees Fern with a serious look on her face. "Elaborate, female."

Fern helps Ki to his feet and hands him his stuff from the night before. "I don't have much time. But the bottom line is: Get the fuck out of here."

Kiaran bandoliers the looted rifle between his wings and hefts his crossbow. "Hmm… Let me guess…"

Suddenly, the wall bursts open with a loud crack of thunder. "KIAARRAAAANNNN!"

Ki backs up and loads his crossbow. "… Fuck…"

Ran steps out of the smoke, her eyes blazing with electricity. "You… YOU! YOU ARE GOING TO GET YOUR ASS BEATEN YOU STUPID LIZARD!" She holds out her hand and a large javelin of pure lightning sparks to life.

Ki quickly vaults backwards over the counter and ducks as she throws the pike of death. It pierces the counter and detonates, blowing Ki onto his front.

Fern, on the other hand, managed to jump out of the way and found shelter in a nearby hallway. "Listen, lady! If you don't stop destroying my house, I'm gonna fuck you up harder than Pornstars at the local strip club!"

Ran turns to her new opponent. "Come here and say that to my fucking face, grandma!"

"WHAT WAS THAT!?"

The two women size each other up and duke it out; hand to hand.

"I'M GONNA PLUCK EVERY SINGLE FUCKING ONE OF YOUR RATTY FEATHERS, BITCH!"

"HOW'S ABOUT I STUFF YOUR BOYFRIEND'S TINY ASS COCK IN THE GRINDER, YOU WHORE!"

"I BET MY BOYFRIEND'S COCK WOULD SWALLOW YOU WHOLE, SLUT!"

As the two women exchange… Less than appropriate language at each other, Ki slowly (and quietly) gets to his feet. "_Fuck_." He thinks. "_Gotta escape before things start heading my way…_"

Kiaran manages to get to the door when… "YOU GET BACK HERE, YOU STUPID DEMON!"

Suddenly, he feels a hot sensation around his stomach as he's yanked back by a rope of pure lighting. "GAH!"

Ran twirls her rope up and then whips it down, Kiaran's limp body flying up then slamming into the ground. "Now then… About that mission, baby…"

Ki coughs, blood dripping from his mouth. "Heh… Should I be worried, Ran Vorey?"

Ran kicks Ki's head into the ground, cracks appearing in the wood flooring. "Yes. Yes you should."

She releases Ki from the lighting rope and crouches next to his head. "You know… I always hated secrets, Kiaran dear…" She whispers as she strokes his horns. "Now then… About your punishment…"

"Punish this…" Ki mumbles. In his hand, a small crossbow bolt lies. He snaps the tip with his thumb and a blue-white blast engulfs the room.

Ran backs up and scowls. "What's with the light show, Ki!?"

Staggering to his feet, he stabs himself with a syringe. "An EMP… Your powers are useless."

As if to prove it, the lights in the apartment flicker and die. Ran's fur flattens slightly as the static also fades away. Kiaran, however, doubles over as the effects of his injection begin to take effect.

At this moment, Aaron and Isura crash through the front door. "FOOL!" Aaron quickly cocks his rifle and aims it at his brother. "You know what that will do to your system, Kiaran!"

Isura notices the discarded syringe and draws two knives. "Reaper… I'm here to kill you once and for all…"

Kiaran stands straight up again, something obviously different as his head hangs limply. His mouth, emotionlessly open slightly, twitches. His eyes closed, Kiaran slowly straightens up. Wings starting to spread.

Much to the ignorance of everyone, the shadows in the room start to slowly ooze toward the Dragon. The ryuu nekos, Xi and Alerio, cower from their perch just outside of the destroyed wall.

Slowly, Fern climbs out of a crater in a wall nearby and notices Kiaran's strangely relaxed stance. "No… No! Not here!" Fern quickly grabs her gun and aims at Ki. "Everyone! Get out now!"

Ran turns toward Fern. "What!? Why?"

Aaron and Isura quickly advance towards Kiaran. "Isura! Restrain him now!" Aaron shouts.

Isura quickly manifests a debris puppet that hugs Ki tightly. "Don't order me around, Hyperion…"

Aaron quickly moves toward Kiaran and holds a pistol to the dragon's temple. "Kiaran… Listen to me… You're not well…"

Aaron's wings twitch as he looks upon his twin. "Just… Just take it easy. Don't give in yet…"

Suddenly. Ki's limp mouth snaps into a wickedly insane grin, teeth bared crazily. "Don't… Give in? Hee… Heehee…!"

"Oh no…" Ran quickly draws her fans as she runs toward the three boys. "Kiaran! Don't!" Kicking Aaron away, she destroys the puppet restraining Kiaran. "Get a grip!"

Isura grabs his gun out of its holster and points it at Ki. "REAPER!"

In the blink of an eye, Kiaran has Ran's head in a tight hold that has the potential to snap her neck. "Heeheehee! Kiaran? Reaper? These names mean nothing to me!"

Isura tightens his grip on the pistol, cocking the firing mechanism. "What are you?"

Kiaran turns to face Isura, eyes still closed and the insane grin on his face. "Me…?" He opens his eyes to reveal red slits where his pupils once were. Laughing manically, he smiles insanely at Isura "I am Feral Kiaran!"

Immediately, all the shadows that had inconspicuously gathered cover Ki in a thick ooze, creating a silhouette of the Dragon with glowing red eyes. "And you are all going to die!" He throws Ran at Isura and leaps forward at the orange lizard, his mouth opening to reveal an endless red void…


	13. Chapter 13

"Ugh… Vhat…" Jacov sits up in the medical cot he had just recently taken up residence in. "Oi… Muy head…"

A medic notices Jacov and quickly rushes over. "Hey, guy. Take it easy."

"Eh…?" Jacov shakes his head and stands, coming level to the medic: a snake-like dreamkeeper with arms, legs, and a hood like a cobra. "Ah. Hanoi. Good… You may be assisting me…"

Hanoi follows Jacov out of the medical tent and towards the transport tent. "Jacov. What's this all about?"

The bear enters the tent and programs in coordinates for Calypsa. "Kiaran. Eet's comrade Kiaran."

Hanoi chuckles sarcastically as he follows Jacov onto the telepad. "Did the fool get himself caught by the Troopers again?"

Jacov doesn't laugh. "Vorse… He getting caught by Troopers, Assassin, end Crazy Voman."

And with that, the pad jumps away…

"Damnit!" Aaron's halo flares over his head as he throws a beam of sunlight to catch Ran. Pulling her back, he fires several shots at Ferkai from his rifle. Luckily for Isura, the three rounds are enough to knock Fer to the side enough to miss the assassin. "Fern! Get Isura! We're getting out of here!"

Fern quickly jumps toward Isura, her halo glowing as she pulls a small item from her pocket. In mere seconds, Fern's mysterious object grows to become a small rocket launcher. "Get down!"

Ferkai lands and bares his gaping maw at Fern. "Allow me to be your guide into hell! HeeHeeHee!"

"Shut UP!" Fern screams. Yanking the trigger, she fires her only shot at Ferkai.

Jumping up, Fer dodges the shell. With his tail, he catches the rocket and hurls it back at Fern. "Come see hell, child!"

"No!" Aaron jumps in the way, light-sword in hand. "Bastard!"

Slicing the projectile in half, Aaron jumps for Ferkai. "Go! I'll hold him off!"

The shadow quickly gets inside Aaron's guard as he tells the others to escape. "Oh hai der!"

"NO!" Fern tries to run for Aaron as Isura, carrying an unconscious Ran, holds her back. "AARON!"

Isura hauls Fern back and leads her out. "We have to move, bitch!"

Ferkai looks out at the escaping trio and smiles maliciously, his red eyes cutting into Fern's teary ones. "Behold your lover, child! For his blood now stains my hands!" He indicates Aaron. The trooper's mouth and eyes are both wide open, blood dripping from his lips. Fer pulls his arm out of him and examines the blood on it, smiling crazily.

Aaron falls to his knees. "Gah… Hah…" He lays his hand over the gaping wound in his stomach. "B-Bastard…"

Ferkai kneels at Aaron's side. "Heeheeheheehe… Your blood smells delicious, brother…"

Aaron looks weakly at the shadow. "Y-You're… Gah… You're no b-brother of mine…"

Fer stands and clenches his fist. "Too bad… Now die!" The silhouette draws back and throws a heavy left hook into Aaron's face.

"Agh!" Aaron convulses once and lies still.

"Hmm…" Fer kneels, letting the shadows fade off his body. Examining Aaron, he notices the dragon still breathing weakly. "You're quite strong, child… You will live for now…"

Ferkai lays his hand on Aaron's forehead and closes his eyes. Seconds later, he pulls his hand away to reveal an upside-down pentagram shadow-etching in Aaron's forehead. "You will see the truth, child…" Fer whispers as he runs out of the destroyed house and flies off into the sky.

A flash of light momentarily illuminates the dark basement of a Calypsan strip club as Jacov and Hanoi quickly emerge from the depths. Running outside, the pair catch a momentary glimpse of Fer as he vectors for the distant Starfall forest and shoots away; shadows steaming off his body.

"Damneet!" Jacov throws his sword at a wall, the dense blade leaving a respectable gash in the stone. "How are ve es ketch him nao!?"

The snake flicks his tongue as he follows Jacov towards the edge of the city. "Relax… He's not going anywhere… Not without his heart…"

"Eh?" Jacov stops and turns to the medic, arms waving frantically. "Vhat!? Vhat is meaning of dat!?"

Hanoi quickly motions over to an orange lizard struggling with two semi-conscious girls. "Look there. Ran Vorey is in the custody of infamous Puppeteer Demon Isura Drimminor…"

Jacov clenches his fists, a growl humming in his throat. "Come. Ve must see vhere dey go…" He says as he begins to track the group. "Meybe ve es find comrade Ki as vell…"

"Hehehe… Go my pawns… Move yourselves into your pathetic squares…"

Marzena Caramia, the mysterious wife to the famed Andurunan Diplomat Sharlen Donpar, looks into the large datascroll screen that spans a majority of her private office. "You will pay dearly for your betrayal, Reaper…" She zooms a security camera image on Ran's unconscious face. "You will pay your betrayal with the blood of the one you love most!"

Suddenly, a red and maroon dreamkeeper walks into the dim room. "Marzena… We're ready to instigate our attack…"

The gray and blue-striped dreamkeeper luxuriously moves toward her husband and seduces him into her arms. "Oh Sharlen, darling… I knew you could do this for me…"

The duo kiss momentarily and Sharlen smirks maliciously. "Of course, my dove… Anything to kill that sorry excuse for a dreamkeeper: Kiaran…"

Marzena's eyes, half lidded, lure the diplomat into a trance. "Mmm… My dirty boy… Come and make me squirm…"

"GRAAHHHH!" Ferkai speeds into a screaming skydive and slams into a snowdrift. The resulting explosion of lunarous-laced snow sparkles in the midday sun.

Clambering out of the snow, the dragon looks around. "Heh… Hehehe… Free… Ferkai is free! HEEHEEHEE!" Standing at full height, he smiles crazily. "Now now now… Must get Ran… Must have her… Any girl… I must… Implant myself within… All the girls… HAHAHAHA!"

"_Fer… Get a grip…_" Kiaran's voice echos within the confines of the dragon's head. "_We need to save Ran from Isura and her father…_"

Fer shakes his head. "NONONO!" he cries. "FER WANTS TO FUCK BITCHES!"

"_Fuck the damn bitches __**after**__ we save Ran…_" Ki growls.

Ferkai smiles again, fangs glinting thirstily. "I want their blood, Kiaran… I want their blood…"

Ki sighs. "_FINE! Go fuck a bitch now…_"

"YAY!" Ferkai quickly jets off the slope and back towards the city. Both he and Kiaran unknowing of the dangers that lie ahead…


	14. Chapter 14

By twilight, Ferkai (and by mental extension, Kiaran) had made it to the Talocan district. Perching on a ledge, Ferkai sighs and smiles wide, teeth glinting in the dying sunlight. "Mmm… I smell virgins… Hehehe…"

"iCool it, Fer…/i" Kiaran's voice pierces through Fer's mind. "iIf we get caught, we're fucked…/i"

Fer jumps off the ledge and sees a shark-like dreamkeeper, the smell of fermentae indicating that she'd been hammered straight through. "Hee! Ferkai will fuck all! Not the other way around!"

The girl, Syerra, stumbles down the street, when all of a sudden, she's pinned to the ground by a dark silhouette. "KYAHH!"

Ferkai brings his face closer to hers and looks deep into the girl's eyes. "Mmm… You reek of virginity, child… Something that will soon be gone!" Tearing the girl's tank top off, he lifts her off the ground and flies off. While in flight, he forcibly kisses her. "Ooh feisty bitch…"

"LET GO OF ME!" Syerra screams desperately. Thrashing around, she tries to escape Fer's firm hold.

"Are you sure?" Fer teases. "Very well." He drops the girl and falls next to her.

"KYAAHHH!" Syerra flails ineffectively as she plummets towards the ground.

Fer laughs and glides around her. "Will you let Ferkai fuck you now?"

"YESYESYESANYTHING!" She shouts frantically.

Fer catches the shark and flies off again. "You're in for a treat, girly…"

Kissing Syerra again, he disappears into the night.

"iRan…/i" Ki murmurs as Fer reaps his reward. "iI'm sorry…/i"

Ran opens her eyes groggily, taking in the dim lit room around her. "W-Where…"

Suddenly, a slap across the face snaps her awake. "Ran! I told you never to speak to that bastard of a dreamkeeper, Kiaran!" The voice slaps her again.

Ran looks up to see the face of a leopard. "Father… It is… Good to hear your voice again…" She says in a monotonous voice.

"DON'T YOU USE THAT TONE WITH ME, FOOL!" Ran's father slaps her across the face a third time, this time his claws draw a bit of blood. "WHERE IS THAT WHELP!?"

Isura taps Mr. Vorey's shoulder. "Sethos… I'm going to find him… And I'm going to kill him myself…"

"No…" Ran mumbles inaudibly.

Sethos flicks his tail and scowls. "No… I want him brought to me… Alive…"

"No." Ran clenches her fists, electricity beginning to build within them.

"So I may slit his throat myself." Mr. Vorey snarls.

"NO!" Ran's body explodes with electrical energy as Isura and her father are blown backwards into a wall. "KIARAN!" She quickly sets herself into a running stance as electricity sparks down to her feet.

"RAN!" Mr. Vorey quickly stands up to stop her. "STOP THIS INSTANT, CHILD!"

But he's too late. Ran dashes out of the house and down the street, sparks exploding from every footfall she makes. "KI! KIARAN!"

Fer stands proudly over his "kill." A shark dreamkeeper by the name Syerra. Smiling as sweat drips from his snout, he kneels beside the exhausted girl. "So… Bitch… Do you want daddy to play with you some more?"

Syerra, dazed by the hormones and fermentae flooding her system, nods obediently, her body defiled by Ferkai's sexual rampage. "Y-Yes… Please… Make me happy, Fer…"

Fer smiles again, his teeth glinting evily. "Sorry. I'm gonna have to take something first." With that, he plunges his left hand into her chest. Shadows curling around it, he laughs manically at Syerra's screams of pain. "DIE!"

Tearing out the girl's heart, he holds it in front of her face, the beating organ spurting blood all over her as she watches it in the last moments of her life. As she dies, she sees Fer stuff the still-beating muscle down his throat and drool her very blood.

"iGOOD GOD, MAN!/i" Kiaran's voice pierces Fer's dull mind. "i WHY!?/i"

Fer coats himself in shadow again and flies off. "Because virgin hearts are delicious." He laughs.

"iLook.../i" Ki sighs. "iJust let me gain control again…/i"

Fer shakes his head and smiles as blood spatters across the walls of the alleyway. "Mmm… Okay."

Suddenly, Fer doubles over. Falling to his knees, he wraps his hands around his head. "Aaagghh!" He closes his eyes tightly and opens them again. Instead of the feral red, they change slowly back into Ki's dark teal.

"Hah… Hah…" Ki struggles to his feet, doubling over again as he experiences the taste of blood. He throws up and stands back up, blood still painted on his snout. "Damn… I gotta… Gotta…" He stumbles to the street but collapses and loses consciousness.

"iKi…/i" Whispers a female voice.

Looking around, the dragon notices the dark mist surrounding him. "No… NO!" He immediately whips around, his tail twitching nervously. "Leave me alone! I have nothing more to say to you!"

The voice laughs, amused. "iOh? Is that so…/i"

Kiaran is instantly thrown sideways into an invisible wall. "GAH!" Falling to the ground winded, he coughs as he staggers to his feet again. "Y-Yes… I have… Nothing left to… Say…" He gasps.

Again, the voice laughs. "iSilly Kiaran… Always trying to be the hero…/i" As she speaks, a holographic screen appears in front of the dragon. On it, images of a familiar looking cat flash in and out; some of her smiling, others of her angry. Mostly those of her crying.

Ki clenches his fists but says nothing.

"iOh!/i" the voice sneers. "iIs /iSHEi your new lover, Kiaran darling?/i"

"Leave Ran out of this, Marzena!" Ki stands back up, wings spread wide.

Marzena laughs again as she materializes before him. "iI don't/i NEEDi to do anything, baby…/i"

Suddenly, Ki hears a voice in the back of his head. "iKi…/i"

Looking back at Marzena, he growls angrily. "Don't. Touch. Ran."

Zena starts to fade into the mist. "iI don't have to… She will…/i" Right after she disappears Kiaran begins to fall into the darkness that he had so loyally served for his entire life…

"GAH!" Kiaran shoots into a sitting position and quickly looks around. After adjusting, he sees that he's lying on the couch in his apartment in Talocan. On the coffee table nearby, a tea sits idly; still steaming. "What…?"

Ran slowly walks in and sits at Ki's feet, her hair down and covering her face. Silently, she opens and closes one of her fans: a gift from Ki long ago.

"Ran…?" Ki reaches to touch her shoulder.

She moves just out of range and shivers uncomfortably. "No… Kiaran…"

Ki instantly notices the tension in her voice. "What… What's wrong, baby?"

Ran looks up at Ki, tears quietly streaming down her face. "You have to leave, Kiaran… You have to leave and never come back…"


	15. Chapter 15

"What…?" Ki's eyes widen in disbelief as he lies back onto the couch. "No… No. This is just a, a, an illusion! Yeah… Marzena's just fucking with my mind again!"

Ran quickly strokes Ki's face, gently kissing his Yang birthmark below his left horn. "Ki, honey… This isn't an illusion…" She sniffs and wipes tears out of her eyes. "I'm sorry… I'm breaking up with you…"

Ki shakes his head and gets up. He quickly walks into the kitchen and yanks an apple fermentae from the fridge. He also grabs three FKESS Syringes from a cabinet and mixes them into the booze. "No. No. No. This isn't right… This isn't happening!"

Ran rushes over to the dragon, tears pouring down her cheeks now. "KI! NO! PLEASE!"

Blinking once, Ki's eyes fill with tears as they revert to a reddish-teal hue. "BITCH! DON'T TOUCH ME!" He slaps Ran hard across the face and sends her falling backwards onto the ground. He downs the drink and glares angrily at Ran.

Her eyes wide with disbelief, she slowly touches her cheek and notices blood trickling from her mouth. "Ki…?"

The dragon shakes his head and comes back around to normal. Seeing Ran on the ground, hurt, crying, and quiet, he realizes. "No… NO!" He runs for the window-door in the living room and crashes through it, ignoring the subsequent cuts from the glass. Each wing stroke full of anguish and misery, he roars sadly as he flies into the setting sun.

Ran tries to get up to catch him but she's too late. Sinking to her knees, she watches Kiaran's silhouette disappear into the darkening sky. "Ki… No…" She sobs. She buries her face in her hands and cries. "It's my fault… IT'S ALL MY FAULT!"

At the same time, the dragon flies himself ragged as he constantly thinks to himself. "iI DID IT! I FUCKED IT ALL UP! I KNEW I WAS A MONSTER! IT'S ALL MY GODDAMN FAULT!"

Isura watches quietly as his target flies haphazardly through the open air, his gun trained on it. "Stupid Kiaran… How about you take a nice, long na—OOF!"

The assassin crumples to the ground as Jacov's warhammer deals him a neat little knockout blow. "Hehehe… In motherlend, ve call assassin like you 'pizda.' Ruskolian for 'pussy,' littel bestard…"

Hanoi quickly strides over, holding out his hand as his steel gray halo glows. Instantly, every bit and piece of metal jumps off of Isura's body and sticks to his outstretched palm. "Alright, Jacov. He's clean." Handing the bear the metal, the snake ensure's that Isura has no other weapons on him and finds the mercenary's datapad. "Hmm?"

Jacov peers over Hanoi's shoulder curiously. "Vhat!? Vhat is eet?"

Hanoi doesn't look at him. "It's a datapad…" The snake pokes at the device and starts to delve into its secure files. "Hmm… Quite the challenging security system… Ah! There."

Pulling out his own datascroll, Hanoi jacks the datapad into it and starts to copy all of Isura's mission files. "Now I can see why Canillo employs both Ki and this blockhead…"

Jacov paces behind him impatiently, forging and reforging his newly attained metal. "Vhy deh hell you no tell, comrade!?"

Hanoi pauses his work and glares at Jacov. "Because it's for a surprise party all for you, Jacov. And now you know!" He hisses sarcastically.

Jacov drops his metal, a wide-eyed look on his face. "Really, comrade?"

Hanoi face palms and returns to copying Isura's files. "No, you imbecile! Isura's trying to catch Ki to have him executed!"

"Eh?" Jacov crouches next to Isura's unconscious body and pokes it curiously. "Dis vimp? Ketch comrade Kiaran?" The polar bear starts bursting out laughing and roughly pats Hanoi on the back. "Dat es good joke, comrade Hanoi! EHEHEH!"

Hanoi rolls his eyes and returns to work. "Yeah… Joke…"

Ran slowly walks into her house after making the long trip from Talocan to Theophanies. "I'm home…" As she flops on the couch, she sighs heavily. "iNo… I'm not home… I don't know where home is anymore…/i" she thinks to herself.

As if to mock her misery, her sister (a wolf-like dreamkeeper) skips happily into the room with her datascroll blaring Kojikan Pop music. "OHMIGAWD! RANRANRAN!" she jumps onto the couch and sits down extremely close to her sister. "LOOKLOOKLOOK! IT'S KON JYUUN!" She shoves the datascroll into Ran's face. "SEE!?"

Ran rolls her eyes as the intense volume assaults her ears. "Yes, Isis… I can see band/b hear him…"

Isis hugs her datascroll tightly, eyes shut tightly. "I just love K-Pop! Can you believe dad's gonna let me go to see them live at the Harvest Festival this year!?"

Standing up and stretching. "No, Ayes… I can't believe it!" She says sarcastically.

Puffing her cheeks, Isis huffs at Ran. "Ooohhh! You're always so spoiled and stuff! Lighten up, Ran!"

Covering her ears, Ran ignores her and runs upstairs. Hiding in her room, she buries herself in her covers. "iI'm not spoiled…/i" She thinks. Almost immediately after she thinks that, however, she relives her experience with Kiaran just earlier that day. Tossing over in bed, she starts to cry quietly. "iI… I was spoiled… I had everything I could have ever wanted… And it's all gone because of me…/i"

Ki slowly spirals down from the sky and lands on top of one of the shorter Sabbaton Towers. "I fucked up… I fucked up again!" He growls to himself. Pulling out a knife from its sheath on his right leg, he starts to carve into his right arm; each time cutting deeper and deeper.

Blood starts to drip from his carving as thunder and lightning fill the sky. "Heh… Ran always hated thunder… Yet she had the ability to control lightning… Heheh… Little scamp…" He finishes his carving and raises his fist to the sky. Lightning streaks past and illuminates his bloody arm:

h1uALL MY FAULT/u/h1


	16. Chapter 16

Jacov and Hanoi rush through the barren streets, Hanoi leading with a small datapad as Jacov follows as he forges his hammer into twin pistols.

"Jacov." Hanoi stops at a pothole and points at it. "Can you melt the latch?"

Cracking his knuckles, the bear bends down. "Ja, I ken burn puny letch." He smirks as his halo glows like a flame. Soon enough, the latch is completely reduced to molten slag. "Dere. Let's go."

The pair jump into the hole and land knee deep in water. Hanoi pulls out a flashlight and shakes it, waking the starquid sleeping inside. The poor animal illuminates the sewer and reveals a long walk upstream. "Alright, Jacov… Let's get walking…"

Jacov obliges and takes the lead. "Vhere es Jacov heading, comrade?"

Hanoi advances next to the husky bear, not making eye contact. "A newer pad station… This one should be able to shoot us into Ki's safehouse…"

"Meaning _Demon's Lair_?" Jacov says uneasily.

Hanoi hesitates as they reach a steel door. "Yes… The _Demon's Lair_…"

As the sky starts to pour freezing rain and throw lightning, Ki flaps his wings. He raggedly tries to make his way toward the Starfall Forest. "iIt's for the best. Nothing more, nothing less. Ran'll be happier this way…/i"

Suddenly, Ki's body jerks as one of his wings starts to ice up. "Gah! Fuck!" As he spirals down toward the ground, he tries to break up the ice coating the leading edge of his right wing. "Break, break, break!" Giving up, he grabs three FKESS Syringes and stabs them into his calf. Almost as soon as he hits the ground, Ki suddenly becomes a silhouette and phases straight into the ground.

Rising up out of the ground, Ki's eyes clearly show his reversion into Ferkai. Dripping with both shadow and rain, the demon clambers out of his shadowportal and flops into the mud. "Gah! Hah… Hah… Fuck! GRAHHH!"

A flash of lightning reveals Ferkai's dilemma. In his side, a tree branch about as thick as a spear, sticks out awkwardly. Blood spills from the wound as the dragon yanks out the debris. "RAAGGGHHH!" Coving his side, Fer makes his way through the forest. A trip he's made far too many times before. "iI just… Have to make it… To my lair…/i"

Ki's voice cuts through the haze of Fer's mind. "iWe're not gonna make it, Fer… Just give up…/i" He sighs.

Fer roars angrily punching the sky with his left fist. "YOU FUCKING SUMMONED ME FOR A REASON! AND I WILL DO MY JOB!" With that, he sprints through the forest and into a small clearing. He then stands in the middle and waits.

"iBIOSIGNATURE DETECTED. CAPTURE ENGAGED./I" A voice robotically echos. Suddenly, the ground opens up beneath Fer and he is sucked inside. The hole closes up again and seals the demon within the ground…

"BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP" Hanoi's datapad suddenly starts vibrating as he and Jacov telepad into the Demon's Lair pad bay.

The snake slides his finger to dismiss the alert and pockets the device. "Jacov, he's in."

Cocking his twin pistols, Jacov scowls. "Vas eet intentional? Or vas he caught?"

The duo enter a dark room and Jacov flicks on the lights. In front of them, Ferkai stands facing the door.

The demon smiles maliciously at Jacov and Hanoi as blood drips from his arm and side. "Why hello… Friends…"

The bear, startled, fires several shots at the demon. "GODFUCKINGSHITBARFDAMNEET!"

"NO!" Hanoi's steel colored halo sparks to life as the bullets stop midflight and magnetize back toward his hand. "Jacov you idiot!"

Ferkai chuckles as his eyes slowly revert to Ki's icy Teal. "Don't worry… I'm not much of a threat as of now…" Kiaran then collapses to the ground.

Rushing over, Hanoi and Jacov quickly start running a vitals check. The snake quickly makes note of several injuries Ki had sustained due to the breakout at The Berg, as well as the splinter-filled wound from the branch just moments ago. "Jacov, get to the next room and get a bed ready. I'm gonna have to stitch some of these wounds…" He also notices blood dripping from the dragon's nose and mouth. "I also need to take care of his internal bleeding…"

As Jacov leaves, Hanoi notices Ki's new carving. Reading it slowly, he shakes his head. "Oh Kiaran… You really love her, don't you…?"

Ki slowly opens one eye, struggling to keep his old friend in focus. "Y… Yes…"

As Jacov comes back with a syringe and some anesthesia, Hanoi lays a hand on Ki's forehead. "Shh… Just relax… You'll be fine…" Hanoi preps the syringe and injects the serum into Ki's chest.

Ki closes his eyes and starts breathing slower. "No… As long as… Ran's… Okay…"

Ran suddenly opens her eyes to a dark room, mist curling around her feet. "Why hello… Bitch…"

Whipping around, Ran clenches her fists. "WHO ARE YOU!?" She tries to spark a lightning ball but to no avail.

The voice laughs dryly, amused at Ran's helplessness. "Your power won't work here, Ran… Not in my world… In my world…"

Ran is forced to turn around. As she does she comes face to face with Marzena. "Who ar—"

The cat is suddenly hurled backwards. She struggles to prop herself up but Marzena slowly walks over and pushes Ran's face into the ground. "Don't interrupt! In my world, I rule!"

Bending down, the pencil-gray dreamkeeper brushes Ran's hair out of her face. "Oh you of little faith… You truly don't want Kiaran…" She chuckles at Ran and stands again. "You just loved to play with that icy heart of his, didn't you…?"

"Shut up…" Ran growls. "SHUT UP!" She struggles to stand up, but invisible hands hold her to the ground.

"So I'm right?" Marzena coos. "Such a bad girl… You actually iENJOYED/i crushing him under your feet!" Laughing again, Marzena walks off into the darkness and disappears." Now begone, bitch! I have a dragon to catch… And when I do…"

Ran suddenly wakes up in a cold sweat, Marzena's final words echoing through her head as if they were etched into her very soul: iHis blood will be on your hands…/i


	17. Chapter 17

It's almost midnight when Isura finally wakes up. Rubbing his head, he quickly does an assessment. "Fuck… Everything's go—" He notices his datapad nearby, glowing and vibrating. Picking it up, he reads the message displayed on the screen:

iISURA: KIARAN NOW HAS TWO PARTNERS. ONE GOES BY THE NAME JACOV. THE OTHER: HANOI. JACOV POSESSES THE POWER TO FORGE ANY METAL INSTANTANEOUSLY. HANOI HAS THE POWER OF MAGNETISIM. YOU ARE TO ELIMINATE BOTH AND BRING THE DRAGON TO ME. ~MARZENA/i

"Well fuck…" Isura stows the device and stands shakily, still dazed from Jacov's knockout blow. "I gotta bring Kiaran to Sethos. I gotta bring Kiaran to Marzena. What the fuck is so special about this asshole!?"

Making his way off the building, the dreamkeeper wraps his scarf around his mouth and puts on goggles. "iHmph… At least when he dies, I'll get more cash…/i"

"Speak of the devil…" sneers a voice.

Isura turns around to be greeted by a heavy right uppercut. "Gah!" He lands on his feet and tears his scarf away, wiping his mouth. "What the…"

Aaron shakes his hand and smiles. "Hello there, Puppetmaster. We need to talk."

Two shot glasses hit the table at the same time and Aaron chuckles. Looking at Isura, he waves in another round of fermentae. "Oh come now, Puppetmaster… Surely you can't out drink me!"

Isura swirls a shot glass and downs its contents. "Feh… You can surely try to bluff, Hyperion."

Aaron downs several more glasses and smirks. "But in all seriousness, Isura Drimminor… Kiaran's wanted by three parties. His ex-girlfriend, his newer ex-girlfriend's father, and the Shock Troopers…"

"Yeah?" Isura downs another shot, burping obnoxiously. "So what?"

Aaron slams a shot glass on the table. "Who's offering you the most money? Marzena or Mr. Vorey?"

The lizard scowls, his drunkenness clouding his judgement. "Vorey… He's paying me a hundred thousand lucre…"

"And Marzena?" Aaron asks, smiling at Isura's low tolerance. "How much is she paying?"

Isura closes his eyes and crosses his arms. "Nothing. She's holding my bounty over my head… I'm not safe when I sleep."

Aaron frowns. "iHmm… Marzena knows how to invade other minds now… Not just Ki…/i" The dragon interlaces his fingers as Isura continues to drink. "iThis means she's even more of a threat… And with her position as the wife of the Safety Councilor… She can do almost anything…/i"

Suddenly, Isura falls over onto the floor into a drunken coma. As Aaron goes to picks him up, he notices the assassin's datapad vibrating in a pocket. Pulling it out, he reads the message.

iISURA: IT'S SETHOS VOREY. I HAVE RECEIVED AN INTERESTING MESSAGE FROM A MARZENA CARAMIA… SHE HAS PROVIDED ME WITH PLANS TO KILL KIARAN. THEREFORE, YOU SHOULD REPORT DIRECTLY TO ME AT ONCE. THAT IS ALL./i

"Hmm… This could be a problem…" Aaron mumbles as he carries Isura out of the bar. Replacing the datapad in the assassin's pocket, Aaron spreads his wings and flies off for Isura's apartment.

"VE SHOULD BE SEVING DEH GERL!?" Jacov thunders as he and Hanoi rush Kiaran to the medical bay.

"Yes. We should be worrying about Ran Vorey. She knows too much. More than Marzena ever did. More than Aaron ever did. More than anyone ever did. She is of vital importance." Hanoi guides the stretcher into the bay and helps move Ki's body onto a bed. He opens his datascroll and starts to run scans of Kiaran's mangled body. "Plus, she means everything to Kiaran. If he were to lose her, the effects could be catastrophic to a majority of Anduruna and surrounding areas…"

"Jacov not lieking plan very much…" The bear starts going through the cabinets and pulling out needles, thread, meds, and various other supplies. "I sey 'fuck deh girl. Comrade Kiaran must forget or be destroyed.'"

Hanoi scoffs as he starts disinfecting Ki's wounds and stitching them up. "Only you, Jacov, would say that… Considering your fiancé is a crazy bitch…"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'S NOT HERE!?" A tiger-like dreamkeeper slams her fists on Canillo's temporary desk, denting the metal frame and cracking the wood. "WHERE IS THAT IDIOT JACOV!?"

Canillo shudders. "He's… Umm… He's out with Hanoi, ma'am!"

The tiger clenches her fist as an ethereal sword starts to form in it. Her halo glows violently in undulating waves of red and blue. "WHAT was my name, Canillo?"

The desert fox hides behind his datascroll. "Noriko! He's with Hanoi, Noriko! They're in the Starfall Forest in the Demon's Lair!"

Riko grins, flashing deadly white teeth. "Thank you, Canillo. I'll be sure to tell the Saftey Councilor that the Dune Sea is still barren of all bandits…" She walks out as Canillo exhales heavily. Just outside the tent, a Manakale stands proudly. Armored in the standard Trooper plating, she kneels to allow Noriko to mount up.

"Okay, girl, let's go." Riko says. "We've got a bear to hunt."

Ran stumbles down the stairs in a daze. Since she woke up after her subconscious chat with Marzena, she's been experiencing a skull-splitting headache. Making her way to the kitchen, she flicks on the lights to see her father, Sethos Vorey, sitting at the table.

"Ran." Calls the leopard. "We need to talk. Now."

"Y-Yes, father…" Ran sits opposite her father at the dining table. "What must we speak about, sir?"

Sethos slams his fist on the table. "You know DAMN well what we need to talk about!"

Ran's ears flick backwards as the sudden sound agitates her headache. "If this is about Kiar—"

"DO NOT SPEAK THAT DEVIL'S NAME IN MY FACE, FOOL!" The leopard hisses.

Ran hesitates, picking her words carefully. "If this is about… Him and I… We are no longer together…" She mumbles.

Sethos reclines in his chair. "Good. I'll be sure that will STAY that way…"

Ran looks up. "What do you mean, daddy?"

Sethos stands and walks out of the kitchen. "It means I'm going to kill the bastard that raped my little girl…"


	18. Chapter 18

Isura wakes up and looks around. "iWhat the… My apartment…?/i" He looks over onto his bedside table and finds a little origami dragon with the word 'open' on it. Following the instructions, he reads the note inside slowly. "No… Fucking… NO!"

Aaron walks in wearing full Trooper armor. "I'm afraid you have little to no choice, Mr. Drimminor…" He tosses Isura a shirt and pants. "Here. I've got several categories for you to pick from sitting in your living room. All are on datascrolls. You get to pick your poison, Puppetmaster."

As Aaron walks out, Isura scowls. "iFuck… The last thing on my list of things I would ever want to do and I end up having no choice…/i" Getting up while putting on clothes, Isura weighs his options. "iOkay… If I say 'no,' I get arrested by the Hyperion and sent to the Berg for three life sentences… If I say 'yes,' Marzena will mentally torment me if I sleep and I lose credibility as an assassin by working with the Troopers… Fuck./i"

The assassin walks into his living room and sees the blue dragon lounging on the couch. "Fine. I'll do what you want."

Aaron quickly sits up and claps once. "Excellent! Pick your… How would nerds like you call it… Class! That's it!"

The lizard scowls as he peruses the datascrolls set before him. Different mission types display themselves across every screen. CQB, Sniper, Marksman, Scout. Each one listing roles and weapon loadouts. "Hmm… Here." Isura rolls up a scroll and hands it to Aaron. "That one."

Opening the datascroll, Aaron looks over Isura's pick and smiles. "Yes, this should suit you nicely. Now come! We have a uniform to fit to you."

The pair arrive at the Andurunan Safety Division Headquarters and Aaron quickly shuffles Isura into the Armory. Inside, the dragon leads the assassin to the Explosive Ordinates section.

"Take your pick of armor and weapons, kiddo. You've got a nice long term of service ahead of you." Aaron teases as he walks out of the room.

"iI'm not a fucking kid…/i" Isura thinks as he browses the various explosives. "iHmm… This could be fun…/i" Isura pulls a few bricks of plastic explosive off the wall, along with some detonators. Moving along the line, he also takes two pocket rockets and a launcher. He finishes by picking some Trooper Goggles off the wall with a communicator attachment.

"You done in here?" Aaron pokes his head in to see Isura hooking everything up to his normal 'work' clothes. "Ah! Excellent! Right this way."

As Aaron leads Isura towards a door, he hears a message pop up in his comlink. Pausing for a moment, he scowls and turns around; Isura following close behind.

The duo walk into an elevator. "Where the hell are we headed?"

Aaron frowns, not facing Isura. "I honestly don't know. I was actually called up when we changed direction back there."

"Well obviously!" Isura mutters.

The elevator stops and the doors open. Aaron shudders as he's suddenly kicked backwards. His stomach wound (which he had stitched and was ignoring) opens up again as he hits the back wall of the elevator. Blood starts to soak through his clothes as Isura is lead out by Aaron's assaulter.

"Donpar!?" Isura, surprised, quickly goes for his pistol.

"I wouldn't do that, Drimminor…" the lizard feels a cold barrel touch the back of his head. "Now holster that weapon, you have a bigger catch to attend to."

The assassin holsters his weapon and scowls. "Ms. Caramia… A pleasure as always…"

"Hmph…" Marzena walks in front of Isura and invites her husband to sit down at his desk. "To think my little pawn was going to turn on its queen? Outrageous!" She fires a shot at Isura's leg and chuckles as the assassin crumples to the ground, clutching his thigh.

"Gah! Fuck!" Isura looks up at Marzena, teeth clenched. "You bit— AGHH!"

Isura falls to the side as the gray cat whips her gun across his face. "Shut up! You have a new job, Drimminor…"

As she says this, she motions toward a darker corner of the room. Out of the shadows, a familiar looking leopard walks. Dressed in a neat pinstripe suit and red tie, his halo glows an iridescent gold as mirror images of him walk out of the same corner. "Yes… You, Drimminor, get to beat into my daughter the lesson she deserves for dating that bastard dragon!"

It's two o'clock in the afternoon; the day before the famed Harvest Festival. Already, the streets are becoming lined with festival goers and vendors. We see a strange trio of cloaked figures walk with purpose through the streets of Margate: a taller one carrying a hammer, a shorter one with a long tail, and one with wings jutting out the back of his cloak.

"Jacov…" Hanoi removes his hood and looks back at the cloaked bear. "Where's your house?"

The bear huffs as he takes the lead. "Heh… One does simply not find house of Jacov…"

Kiaran, keeping his cloak up, swishes his tail. "Look, Jacov. Either we get to your house and grab our stuff, or we stay out in the open and wait for Aaron, Isura, Marzena and Mr. Vorey to kill us all."

Jacov turns a corner onto the shoreline and walks along the boardwalk. "Vell… Vhen put dat vey... Here." The bear stops in front of a seastone bunker of a house; tinted glass windows concealing the lair within. "Velcome, comrades, to Jacov's humble home of deth."

As the trio walk up the steps and inside, Hanoi notices a Manekale in a stable next to the house, covered in Shock Trooper armor. "Wait… Did you just say 'home of death,' Jacov?"

Kiaran and Hanoi walk into the dark entry way and the door closes. Suddenly, they hear a thud as Jacov is tackled to the side by a white and red blur.

Both Ki and Hanoi quickly back up into the door as Jacov's attacker stands, her eyes glowing a fierce red and blue. "Yes, Hanoi…" Ki starts to phase through the door, trying to escape. "He said 'house of death.'"

Hanoi shouts and tugs at the door as Kiaran phases outside. "Phew… Safe…" Ki says thankfully.

Inside, he hears Hanoi's screams of terror. "NO! KI! TAKE ME WITH YOU! GAHHH!"

As soon as the screaming had started, it stops. Kiaran slowly and cautiously approaches the door.

Suddenly, the door opens and a hand shoots out of the gloom, grabbing Kiaran's cloak. Without responding, the dragon is quickly pulled back into the house.

"DAMNNITT! THIS IS AGAINST THE LAW!" Ki shouts, trying to escape.

The attacker growls and throws him up against the wall. "The law…? YOU LITTLE FUCK I bAM/b THE LAW!"


	19. Chapter 19

Hanoi wakes up to find himself, along with Ki, strung up by their ankles to the ceiling of Jacov's house. Struggling to get loose, he finds his hands tied behind his back as well. "Goddamnit…"

"Nice to see you awake too, Hanoi…" Kiaran groans, not even trying to phase out of his glowing chain bonds. "Now keep quiet before you get us killed."

"But…" Hanoi opens his mouth. But shuts it as spotlights shine on both him and Ki.

"You two!" The voice from earlier shouts from the darkness behind the lights. "What do you assholes think you're doing with Jacov? Running around playing tag?"

Kiaran frowns. "Look. We're currently on the run from a crazed assassin, my ex-girlfriend's insane father, and the Shock Troo—"

"I know that much, Reaper." Says the voice. "I asked why you were with Jacov!"

Hanoi closes his eyes and thinks. He then flicks his tail gently and calls out. "Noriko. Cut the crap. Let us down so we can figure out what the fuck to do about our little problem here…" He indicates Kiaran.

"Hey!" Ki growls.

The spotlights shut off and the regular lights flicker on. In front of them, a gray tiger with red stripes stands decked out in standard Shock Trooper armor. "Fine, Hanoi, only because you asked nicely." Her halo glows and a scythe materializes in her hands, she then slices through both chains and lets the weapon and her halo disappear.

"Ouch! OOF!"

Hanoi lands on top of Kiaran and manages to slip out of his bonds. Our dragon, on the other hand, continues to struggle against his glowing chains. "Hey! You guys know I hate glowing stuff!"

Noriko goes over and unties him, smirking. "Yeah. Which is why I chained you with them, fool."

Suddenly, Jacov walks in. He's wearing all camouflage with a bandolier filled with various knives and metal shards. "Hey! Vhen are ve going to discuss plan of attack!?"

Noriko walks over to the bear and punches his shoulder. "In a minute, Jacov… We've got some time to get some things straight."

Hanoi helps Ki up as he watches things unfold between the couple. "Hey, Ki. Watch."

"Watch what?" Kiaran stretches his back, trying to ease the pain of the two bio-rods in his spine.

Needless to say, he didn't get an answer.

"But!" Jacov starts. But Noriko cuts him off.

"No, Jacov. You're the husband of one of the top Shock Troopers in Anduruna. Can't you just give up on your idiot bandit friends?" Noriko indicates Hanoi and Ki. Both ignore the comment, for fear of being abused again.

Jacov shakes his head. "Noriko. Dey are comrades of yours too. Since beck at school, remember?"

Noriko hesitates and throws her hands in the air, her armor clacking. "Fine! Fine. You idiots can go kill yourselves if you want. I don't care."

Jacov smiles and hugs the tiger. "Ohkey… Thank you… Nao… Vhen dis over, I take Noriko to beach and you vill have time of little life."

Riko tries to ignore him, but she blushes slightly. "… Alright." She turns to the two sitting on the floor. "You two! Let's get you suited up."

"Aww yeah!" Ki stands and follows Riko deeper into the house.

Hanoi stands and stops Jacov from following. "Hey… Did Riko the Rock actually… Blush?"

Jacov chuckles. "Ja. Riko blush like cheek in cold vind."

The tiger suddenly appears out of the hallway and grabs Jacov and Hanoi by the shirts. "Now then, kids… What are we talking about here?" She coos, anger dripping from her words.

Jacov opens his mouth to answer but she quickly pulls them into the hall and out of sight.

Lights flicker to life in the basement of Jacov and Noriko's seaside house. Lining the walls, floor to ceiling, are various weapons and armors; guns ranging from pistols, to rifles, to rocket launchers. Grenades spilling out of an ammo box in the corner. Kiaran looks over the wide selection and moves straight for the long-range rifles. "Hey, Riko, are these all standard issue? Or are they modded?"

The tiger drags the other two dreamkeepers in and tosses her hair. "They're all standard. I might be the best trooper there is, but I'm still not allowed to modify my weapons. The only one with that authority is—"

"Aaron: the Gilded Hyperion." Kiaran snarls. "My twin brother…"

Noriko closes her mouth and helps Hanoi pick out weapons of his own. "iHe's feeling a lot of anger… Pain…/i" She looks at Jacov; the bear is toying with several grenades in the corner. "iBut does Jacov know?/i"

Kiaran pulls a long range sniper rifle off the wall and starts to dismantle it. He moves over to the midrange automatic rifles and pulls down a marksman's rifle. He pulls the firing and loading mechanism out of it and fits it into the gutted sniper. He then makes his way to the ammunition rack and selects hollow nosed rounds.

"Hollow nosed?" Noriko looks over Ki's shoulder as he works with his weapon. "In a sniper, those puny rounds aren't gonna go too far.

Ki doesn't look up as he grabs a can of sparker fluid. "That's very true. But they're not gonna stay hollow for long." He takes a drill with a small bit and pokes a tiny hole at the point of twenty rounds. He then submerges the impaled rounds in the sparker fluid. Pulling each one out, he takes some solid explosive and fills the hole with it.

Loading a round into his sniper, the dragon looks at Noriko. "Watch and learn, Riko."

He shoulders his gun and fires the round at the ground by the door. The impact detonates the hollow bullet and sprays sparker fluid over a small patch of the ground. The detonation of the explosive also sets off the fluid and a small explosion rocks the room.

Noriko, impressed, fist bumps Ki. "Nice! What do you call 'em?"

Kiaran goes back to his work; loading a magazine full of his explosive rounds. He hesitates before smiling sadly. "I call them 'Thundercats,' Riko… I call them 'Thundercats' because they're as dangerous as someone very special to me…"


End file.
